A Bit More Than An Irk

Preamble

I'm very grateful to the author of yesterdays Guest Blog for several reasons, not least for reminding us all of the degree of unresolved anger that remains amongst many current and former staff. Nearly 2,000 'hits' reminds me that the platform still has relevance, but it must be obvious that my interest and enthusiasm has been waning of late. In truth I've felt in a quandary as to what to do for some time.

It's hard to abandon something you've put so much time and effort into and regarding something you feel so passionately about. But constant negativity drains the spirit and is wearisome. What I'm desperately looking for is some genuine signs of positivity and I don't mean the ersatz happy-clappy stuff. I want to keep this platform going, but in all honesty it's getting harder to maintain motivation. 

Traditionally, appeals of various kinds on here don't tend to generate much of a response, so I won't, but instead mention in passing that I'll be in Newcastle during the early part of the Napo AGM, hoping to meet up with some contributors, colleagues and friends. Experience tells me that beer consumed in the convivial atmosphere of a pub can greatly assist positive discussions and is something I have a track record in partaking of. Am looking forward to it.

My Pick From Yesterday  

   

Trade unionism, professionalism & institutes that further practice development are excellent ideas. A strong independent probation service? Yes Fucking Please! Sadly the probation environment has been poisoned by TR/right-wing scorched earth ideology. Those that promoted, profited from, facilitated or otherwise refused to challenge those ideologies are, in my view, rightly regarded as complicit, collaborators in the destruction of the Real Probation Service. 

Many untruths have been spoken to bring about the current situation, many promises have been broken, much trust has been lost. As a consequence many untruths have been spoken in general. Unity is a beautiful thing, but it ain't going to be a feature of the probation world anytime soon; at least not whilst those who expedited TR & the 'new' probation force continue to sit in seats of power, e.g. HMPPS/NPS/NAPO/PI.

There are a lot of very angry, disappointed, bitter people who had careers ruined, lives ruined, and whose lifetime of service was rewarded by the wholesale theft of monies they were entitled to. Most were people who dedicated their lives to working positively with their clients only to be embittered by the spiteful behaviour of the greedy, the power-hungry & the bullies.

So when someone writes "Just a few suggestions that are guaranteed to irk those who really do not want a strong independent probation service", its evident they haven't a clue as to the strength of feeling out here. Or they don't care. Or they want everyone to embrace the lame revisionist approach: "We are where we are. Time to move on."

I liked this positive view posted the other day: "This new-fangled do-as-I-say probation force can never be reinstated as an independent professional service. It's a write-off; the damage is structural & beyond economical or moral repair. Let the HMPPS' pisspoor reproduction of the Probation Service die on its arse. Think outside the tick-box & prepare for the next incarnation."

Someone thinking ahead, thinking of the future, looking to creating a strong independent Probation Service.

*****
“Just a few suggestions that are guaranteed to irk those who really do not want a strong independent probation service that all probation staff can be proud of”. A quick google of probation and irk brings up this comment. I think a fitting response.

Anonymous 27 February 2018 at 01:11

It irks me that so many of those chief officers received huge payouts and Queens honours for facilitating the shafting of probation and staff.

Heather Munro stitched up London Probation Trust, sold off Community Payback before TR and kept quiet about all the problems it’d caused. No surprise she received the biggest payout of all. Took retirement on the eve of the split and hasn’t been heard much of since.

Tessa Webb stitched up Herts Probation Trust, sold off employment services before TR, kept quiet about the problems. Shortly after becoming head of BeNCH CRC, retired and walked away with a huge payout and staff got jack. Now she’s a HMIP inspector. Hadn’t done the job for 20 years, looked down her nose from her ivory tower, then boom she’s back telling everyone how to do their job. It’s Pathetic!

Sarah Billiald did right by Kent Probation Trust. She wasn’t even probation trained but had more credibility than the rest of them. Saw her on the news a few times before Grayling silenced her. She publicly called TR “Act of vandalism based on ideology”. The only probation chief to speak out without holding back the small print.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/jan/09/act-vandalism-based-ideology

A “strong independent probation service" is what we lost because of poor unions, bad leadership and a useless probation institute that did next to nothing for the staff through the next few years of chaos.

******
And another Anonymous 26 February 2018 at 10:35

Of course they did - they were responsible for the sifting, for deciding who got what, who was eligible for the enhanced payout, for scheduling who could transfer where. How many ex-Trust staff were paid out under the enhanced scheme then re-employed by either the CRC or NPS, while admin, PSO & PO staff were directed to the CRCs then cast adrift with a much-reduced pay-off - despite the MoJ handing over the fully costed EVR funds to the CRC, i.e. the £multi-million bung from the Modernisation Fund which the CRCs pocketed. They were only ever interested in themselves. Jim's blog-piece today refers to a highly relevant & oft-repeated mantra: "if you were crap with clients, you got promoted."

Anonymous 26 February 2018 at 15:29

"Meanwhile probation Chiefs cashed in and left us in this mess; 'In total, 10 senior executives secured six-figure deals including lump-sum payouts as well as pension top-ups. They include Sally Lewis, the outgoing chief executive of Avon and Somerset Probation Trust, whose exit package totalled £293,000, and Russell Bruce, the outgoing chief executive of Durham Tees Valley Probation Trust, who received a redundancy package worth £230,000. Heather Munro, the former head of the then London Probation Trust (now the London CRC), who was paid a salary of more than £130,000 in her final year of employment, left with a deal worth £247,196. Her pension pot was valued at £1.4m.'"

*****
How refreshing. As a regular commenter on this blog, I realise the tone has been getting increasingly "bitter and twisted". One of the strengths of Probation is its academic tradition, and grateful now for this intervention and wake-up call.

*****
The tone has indeed become 'bitter and twisted' and also relentlessly resentful to the point of whining whingeing weariness. These are not things that win the hearts and minds of those who we might turn to for assistance support and help. How refreshing it is to hear from someone encouraging others to do something positive and constructive for a change. Too much individual sniping and griping and not enough positive coordinated collective action.

*****
Old Academic, if you worked in probation currently you’d have a very different opinion. It’s a shame you fail to understand why probation staff can only speak out anonymously. Your message of “join a union” and “support the PI” is blinkered after you’ve accused those that feels failed and unrepresented by them of “utter nonsense” and “irrational vitriolic resentment”. Try to put aside any rose-tinted gloss; academics couldn’t be farther removed from the reality of working in probation 2021.

*****

“I think on occasions there has been some anti and inter union decidedly uncomradely mischief and propagandising on the blog.” The truth is that Napo has done very little to support probation staff. Since before TR it’s actions have been too little too late. Under the current GS there has been a lot of bluster while our terms and conditions have diminished.

“Grit your teeth and support the Probation Institute. Give it a try.” The PI was set up by former probation chief officers that were complicit in TR, and made a bunch of others “fellows”. As an offshoot of the Probation Association and Probation Chiefs Association, the PI has done very little to challenge the dismantling of probation. It spent that last 6 years romancing the CRCs and the third sector, rather than trying to be a professional institute for probation. The Probation Institute represents probation in name only, and until that changes it will remain as, “the lipstick on the TR pig’.

“Good work is being done by trade unionists and also those working with the Probation Institute (often behind the scenes) including some very respected fellow academics who in my experience can be very persuasive.” Grit your teeth and try to understand how difficult the experience of current probation practitioners is. Probation conditions are abysmal, this has worsened since reunification. There is good reason why many have lost faith in probation unions and have little support for organisations that offer window-dressing to aggressive HMPPS policies.

Cheers,
Old Probation Officer.

*****
Another old Probation Officer here. Disappointing to see the continuing bitterness and division following what I thought was a considerate and courteous post. Academics in the field are - by and large - allies of "Probation" by which I mean the values-led profession that we want it to be. This appalling government survives and thrives on division amongst those it is trashing. The Unions were not the architect of TR, the Institute is not a Union, but is doing its best to nurture the academic ingredient of Probation culture.

This blog has been a vehicle for the expression of grief and rage of probation staff, and it performs a useful function while we are gagged. The sense that we are not being heard is exacerbated by the public celebratory upbeat pronouncements from the leadership, and how many times have I yearned to "gag" the Brave New World nonsense that has been trotted out. But lets not shout at each other. We can at least hear each other. I have vented my spleen often enough in these comments and it can be cathartic, but it wont of itself change anything. I have been a member of a Union since forever, I cant imagine not being.

To be honest, of late the comments section of this blog has frequently just been a dead bore. I do have a clue, and I do 'feel your pain' becaase its my pain too. TR impacted on my happiness, my health and my finances. I wont ever "get over it" but we have to move on, if only for our own sanity and welfare. I would prefer to contribute what little I can to advising assisting and walking alongside my clients, and doing whatever else I can towards efforts to salvage what we can from the wreckage. And we should also note that academia has been publishing and researching and talking, and saying with authority many of the things we want to be said. Academics always say and write it in cool calm prose, which doesn't convey the hurt and pain, but they say it with authority, and some influence. I for one am grateful.

Pearly Gates

*****
Well said Pearly Gates. There are quite a long list of academics who have spoken out on behalf of probation including quite a few who used to be probation officers or social work trained. Hopefully this blog post will mark a turning of the negative tide into something a little more reasoned and robust. I commend Jim for posting this and I suspect he is tiring of the same old often poisonous tirade and hoping for a bit more hope and a way forward. We have seen a large number of half truths and often repeated misrepresentations reiterated here but also a few grains of truth. The truths I want to hold onto are that academics with an interest in probation have been overwhelmingly benevolent and true to the traditional values of our profession. They have not supported the disastrous political decisions made that have impacted on our profession. This and the robust support of our allies has empowered other campaigning organisations to take heart and carry on supporting the idea of probation. 

There is also a truly radical voice in probation and still a steely core residing within many probation staff (not just the old ones) just waiting for an opportunity to fight back. But we have to realise that many professions have been ground down including teachers and healthcare professionals. We are not alone and our struggle is the similar to others. I personally think we have to focus upon a few key things and try to change the narrative to keep returning to them.

*Out of the Civil Service*. Firstly probation needs to extract itself from the deadening and stultifying dead-end that is the civil service. You do this by getting the truth out from the frontline to those who have freedom to speak including respected media sources, unions, institutes and pressure groups. This needs to be whistleblowing. 

*Build a rock solid evidence based foundation*. Secondly we need to support and be supported by academics who can provide insights and research evidence that is convincing. This can be very critical of the things we know are being done that do not work. But we cannot just say it we must help others to demonstrate it. We need to help others make convincing arguments for what works, for whom and under what circumstances. 

*Have more vision than that of the current leadership and know where we want to get to*. Thirdly we need to be more united around a vision of what we would like the service to be like as an alternative and get some cross party buy in and support. We need to devise a blueprint for the sort of service we would like to see develop and provide a roadmap to get from where we have ended up to where we would like to go. We need to make our arguments as coolly and rationally as possible.

Alternatively we can just use this blog to let off steam and have a good old rant and keep going over the same old ground ad nauseum to no avail. The choice is ours.

*****
You say good work is being done by trade unionists and also those working with the Probation Institute (often behind the scenes) including some very respected fellow academics who in your experience can be very persuasive. Tell that to the hundreds if not thousands of probation staff whose profession has been irreversibly changed since 2014. Tell it to those that had to jump ship, or were forced overboard. Tell it to those still suffering, as to many probation offices are toxic environments.

You say Academics, particularly the more experienced ones, can often choose where to focus the emphasis of their research. We know, we’ve had the CBT, desistance, personality disorder and trauma informed gravy trains ridden over our back constantly. For starters, what’d be nice, is if the academics, the unions, the probation institute & Co all denounced the dilution of probation office training, the unnatural attachment to prisons, the civil service, etc.

*****
"It worries me because I wonder about the motives of those concerned." I worry more about the motives of those who *aren't* concerned.

Irk - to irritate or annoy? Like a piece of gravel in your shoe? No, I'm not 'irked'. I'm fucking raging at the high-falutin' attempt to whitewash the impact of TR, to exonerate those who helped destroy the Probation Service, to try to elevate the current pale imitation into the realms of credibility.

The napo-bashing (yep, there's been plenty) and the PI bashing (also plenty of) and the slagging off of individuals (again, a fair bit); no, not edifying, not pretty, not always factually accurate. So why? It's all been generated in the wake of the unfettered trashing of a profession, the corrupt waste of vast sums of public money, endless barefaced lies, misdirections and shameless collusion.

"Academics, particularly the more experienced ones, can often choose where to focus the emphasis of their research." So, academia, do your stuff. You would do well to examine what the fuck has happened to the Probation Service since 2008.

Why 2008? Two reasons:

1. The Offender Management Bill completed its passage through Parliament in July 2007, and the first six probation trusts came into being on 1 April 2008

2. Judy McKnight spent her working life as a public sector trade union official. She was General Secretary of Napo, the trade union and professional association for family court and probation staff, from 1993 until her retirement in 2008.

*****
People cannot move on until there is the acknowledgment of the huge injustice created by the TR split. Careers were ruined, huge amount of money wasted, where was Napo and the PI when staff were sifted into CRCs to be deskilled and belittled by former colleagues, driven by elitist management telling staff they were special. Try working on the ground with management telling us it's all wonderful, with staff leaving or going sick. This wasn't just an irk, lives were devastated including the people we worked with and the victims.